Slovenian Parliament adopted the "Sutarov Law", which gives the police powers to search and monitor "high-risk areas", and it is feared that the neighborhoods where he lives will be marked as such Roma population. The initiative was launched after the incident in which Aleš Sutar was killed in a confrontation with a young man of Roma nationality in front of a nightclub in Novi Mesto.
The controversial Law on Emergency Measures to Ensure Public Safety was proposed two weeks after Sutar's death. After debate and strong reactions from the public, the law was softened, but a number of controversial provisions were retained.
Risk areas
"Risk areas" to which this law applies will be determined geographically by the director general of the police or the director of the police department based on a security assessment.
The police will then be able to enter an object or vehicle in those areas without a court order and "assess whether there is an imminent danger".
In addition, the police will be allowed to use means to record, photograph and check number plates, if it is suspected that the lives or property of people in those areas are at risk.
Broad political support for the law
The bill was supported by the strongest parliamentary party, the Freedom Movement and the Social Democrats, as well as the opposition Slovenian Democratic Party and Nova Slovenija.
Independent MPs and MPs from the Left were against the law. They refused to participate in the vote and assessed the law as repressive.
The Prime Minister from the ranks of the Freedom Movement, Robert Golob, said that the law will introduce new security measures, which "will not be aimed at a specific ethnic group, but at the criminals themselves."
Acute reactions
The adoption of this law caused negative reactions from Roma organizations as well as organizations for the protection of human rights and official European institutions.
The European Commission called on the Slovenian government not to implement this law disproportionately towards any ethnic community.
"The vulnerability of communities that are already exposed to risk must not be created. Of course, it is important to solve the issue of security and preserve public order, but the measures must be fully in line with European Union law," said European Commission spokeswoman Eva Hrnčirova, reports the Slovenian News Agency.
The Vice President of the Roma Foundation for Europe, Mensur Haliti, called on the European Commission to examine the provisions of that law in more detail, to which they agreed, but only after the law was signed by the President of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar.
"This law turns entire neighborhoods into security zones and their residents into security categories. It reduces the political cost of targeting those already excluded from free and fair political participation for political gain," he said.
Murder in this Place
The reason for this reaction of the Slovenian legislature was the murder of forty-eight-year-old Aleš Šutar, which happened at the end of October in front of a nightclub in Novi Mesto.
According to Slovenian media, Sutar tried to defend his son who was being harassed by a group of Roma. During the conflict, Šutar received a strong blow to the head, as a result of which he eventually died.
Two ministers resigned
The Minister of Justice of Slovenia, Andreja Katič, and the Minister of the Interior, Boštjan Poklukar, resigned on this occasion.
Prime Minister Golob announced urgent legal measures, and President Pirc Musar convened a session of the Assembly. The National Security Council increased the police presence in Novi Mesto during those days.
The President of the Council of the Roma Community in Slovenia, Jožek Horvat Mutz, condemned this act of violence and expressed his condolences to the victim's family.
In the days after the tragedy, a protest was held in Novi Mesto where thousands of citizens demanded a response from the state.
The Prime Minister appeared at the meeting and announced emergency legal measures. Citizens shouted at him "Resignation!" and wore T-shirts "We are all Aleš".
